Remember all the hubbub over the blog, “This Charming Charlie,” which pairs Smiths lyrics with Peanuts cartoons? Last month, Universal Music Publishing mailed out takedown notices to the blog owner, Lauren LoPrete. After some legal stare downs and a public show of support from the Moz, the blog will live on. The Morrissey Fanzine, True […]

On its self-titled debut album, The Postelles captured the unbridled enthusiasm of falling into the arms of love. Now, two years wiser and with heartbreak in tow, the New York foursome again dips into a bevy of pop staples—happy-go-lucky choruses, shimmering guitar melodies, and boundless harmonies—to guide its sophomore release, …And It Shook Me. It’s […]

The Young Empires’ debut EP, Wake All My Youth, celebrates the exuberance of youth with a dance-pop flair that affirms these Toronto lads’ faith in the power of the beat. Guitars shimmer, beats pulsate, and Euro-house synthesizers glide through the mix. All of it grooves; none of it falters by the trio’s ambitions. After all, […]

Dawes records drip with a comfortableness and easy feeling of a Jackson Browne or Crosby, Stills, and Nash record — no doubt lessons learned on the road opening for such acts as Browne, Alison Krauss, and Bob Dylan. “I need a cold beer from a dressing room/I need a string of dates back out/I think […]

Take a quick peek at the cover of the new Josh Rouse album to see how he’s adjusted to middle age and family life. Rouse is locked into a quiet stare as gray colors his temples. A few-days-old scruff frames his closed lips, and his blue eyes seem muted with a quiet resignation. “Now that […]